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Concrete Cutting: The Unknown Niche
What is Concrete Cutting? Concrete cutting is a process of controlled sawing, drilling and removal of concrete performed by skilled operators using special saws that use diamond impregnated blades. Unlike the old- fashioned dusty "jack hammer"...
Fall: The Best Time to Plan Next Spring’s Landscape Project
(ARA) - Fall is the smartest time to plan next year’s landscaping project because you can save time, money and headaches. "By approaching your landscape contractor during the off-season, you can be sure to get their full attention while the...
Japanese Barberry ..... A Multi Use Plant
Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii)
DESCRIPTION: Japanese barberry is a compact, shrub with sharp
spines, that commonly grows from two to three feet tall. Its
roots are shallow and tough. The smooth-edged leaves range from
oval to...
Making Your Garden Bloom With Flower Gardening
Flower gardening is basically, adorning your garden with
flowers. Most gardeners, old and new ones alike, want to go into
flower gardening.
There are different forms of flower gardening, as long as it is
a garden with flowers it can be...
Pond Pumps Vs Pool Pumps
Pond Pumps Vs Pool Pumps Often people install pool pumps to run their water feature because of the initial cost savings of purchasing such a pump. This is ill-advised for a variety of reasons; most importantly, the use of a pool pump can lead to...
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How To Use Vines In Landscaping Your Home
Vines can be the quick salvation of the new home owner. Fast-paced annuals will twine up a hastily erected pergola almost before summer starts, providing a cool, fragrant and beautiful awning. Annuals and perennials (or hardy vines, as perennials are called) are an inexpensive way of softening the lines of new buildings, linking them to the landscape.
Decorative and functional, vines are often the answer for older homes as well, the ground-covering varieties serving as cover for foundations and banks, others spreading a carpet of flowering greenery over walls, making fences seem friendlier and stone buildings less harsh.
The methods by which vines climb will necessarily influence and determine your selection. Some vines, such as grape vine, have tendrils which reach out and grasp small objects to hold on to; these vines need a lattice or fence. Others, such as Boston ivy, have adhesive discs that fasten on to a brick or stone wall, and still others, such as the climbing hydrangea, hold to a masonry wall with small, aerial rootlets.
Finally, there are those that climb by twining around other branches or poles, climbing from left to right, or right to left (like honeysuckle). This type can be parasitic in the worst sense, climbing over small bushes and trees and completely strangling them.
No vine should be unsupported, however, and attractive vines are those which are carefully trained and held up. Supports such as arbors, trellises and per golas need not be elaborately constructed, since their function is to display the vine, not
themselves. Wood or other material that does not require painting is ideal, for the natural woods are really more suitable as a background for vines than are the painted ones.
If you have a wooden house and want vines on the walls, it is a good idea to construct a detachable trellis, hinged at the bottom so that it can swing outward when painting is going on. There will be sufficient flexibility in the tendrils to allow this.
Planting Vines
If you are planting annuals, ordinary digging in well-drained soil should suffice. But if you are planting perennials, you will want to plant them as well as any shrub; remember that if they are planted close to the foundation, the soil may be poor initially and may need preparation. The hole should be at least 2 feet square. Break up the bottom soil and mix in bone meal, peat moss, etc.
If you are planting near the house, be careful to place the vine far enough from the overhanging eaves so that water will not drip on the leaves. In winter weather, wet leaves can freeze in the evening and crack. Also, if the vines are placed against a sunny wall they will get reflective heat, and so they should receive extra watering in hot weather.
About the Author
Paul Curran is CEO of Cuzcom Internet Publishing Group and webmaster at Trees-and-Bushes.com, providing access to their nursery supplier of a range of quality plants, trees, bushes, shrubs, seeds and garden products.Visit their vines section now to find a great selection of vines for your garden
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